Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Singapore) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Agency overview
Formed	9 August 1965; 59 years ago (1965-08-09)
Jurisdiction	Government of Singapore
Headquarters	1 Sherwood Road, (Tanglin) Singapore 248163
Motto	Establishing Our Place in the World
Employees	1,616 (2018)
Annual budget	S$466.70 million (2019)
Ministers responsible	Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister Maliki Osman, Second Minister Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State
Agency executives	Albert Chua, Permanent Secretary Luke Goh, 2nd Permanent Secretary Ng Teck Hean, Deputy Secretary (Asia Pacific) Ong Eng Chuan, Deputy Secretary (Management) Foo Chi Hsia, Deputy Secretary (Southeast Asia and ASEAN)
Footnotes
List of diplomatic missions of Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Malay: Kementerian Ehwal Luar Negeri; Chinese: 新加坡外交部; Tamil: வெளியுறவு அமைச்சு) is in charge of the country's foreign relations, as well as handling matters and providing consular assistance related to overseas Singaporean citizens. It was established on 9 August 1965. A ministry for the Government of Singapore, it is also responsible for conducting and managing diplomatic relations between Singapore and other countries and regions.

Organisational structure

The ministry now has 50 overseas missions including 7 high commissions, 21 embassies, 4 permanent missions to the United Nations, and 17 consulates. Singapore has appointed 31 honorary consuls-general/consuls abroad and has 46 non-resident ambassadors and high commissioners based in Singapore.

The ministry is currently divided into 11 directorates which deal with political and economic matters, and 7 directorates which oversee matters relating to protocol, consular issues and the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) among others.

The Corporate Affairs Directorate oversees organisational and resource management while the Human Resource Directorate and Diplomatic Academy manage the development of personnel and training.

Impact

Singapore maintains diplomatic relations with 188 countries. In Singapore, there are 70 resident foreign embassies and high commissions, 43 foreign consulates and 11 international organisations based in Singapore. In addition, more than 60 non-resident foreign ambassadors are accredited to Singapore.

Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent minister is MP for Holland–Bukit Timah GRC Vivian Balakrishnan from the People's Action Party.

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Party		Cabinet
	S. Rajaratnam MP for Kampong Glam (1915–2006)	9 August 1965	30 May 1980		PAP	Lee K. II
						Lee K. III
						Lee K. IV
						Lee K. V
	S. Dhanabalan MP for Kallang (born 1937)	1 June 1980	12 September 1988		PAP
						Lee K. VI
						Lee K. VII
	Wong Kan Seng MP for Kuo Chuan SMC (until 1991) MP for Thomson GRC (from 1991) (born 1946)	13 September 1988	1 January 1994		PAP	Lee K. VIII
						Goh I
						Goh II
	S. Jayakumar MP for Bedok GRC (until 1997) MP for East Coast GRC (from 1997) (born 1939)	2 January 1994	12 August 2004		PAP
						Goh III
						Goh IV
	George Yeo MP for Aljunied GRC (born 1954)	12 August 2004	20 May 2011		PAP	Lee H. I
						Lee H. II
	K. Shanmugam MP for Nee Soon GRC (born 1959)	21 May 2011	30 September 2015		PAP	Lee H. III
	Vivian Balakrishnan MP for Holland–Bukit Timah GRC (born 1961)	1 October 2015	Incumbent		PAP	Lee H. IV
						Lee H. V
						Wong I

See also

• List of current foreign ministers
• Foreign relations of Singapore
• List of diplomatic missions of Singapore